My team tried Maya a while ago, which failed pretty miserably. Don't use high-quality animation programs if you're not familiar with them. This year, a team member with a drawing tablet brought it in and we're trying stop motion, which can be drawn on any program and pieced together on iMovie or Windows Movie Maker. I recommend this, as stop motion doesn't require animation knowledge (only art skills), and can turn out quite well if done properly.
